Current Affairs search results for tag: international-relations

1. Indian Navy – Bangladesh Navy Bilateral EX Bongosagar Commences

Tags: International Relations Defence

The third edition of the Indian Navy (IN) - Bangladesh Navy (BN) bilateral exercise 'Bongosagar' began on 24 May 22 at Port Mongla, Bangladesh.

• The harbor phase of the exercise is scheduled from 24-25 May followed by a sea phase in the North Bay of Bengal from 26-27 May.

• Indian Navy ships Kora, an indigenously built Guided Missile Corvette and Sumedha, an indigenously built offshore patrol vessel, are participating in the exercise.

• The Bangladesh Navy is represented by BNS Abu Ubaidah and Ali Haider, both guided missile frigates.

• The harbour phase of the exercise

• This includes professional and social interactions and friendly sportings, besides strategic level planning discussions on the conduct of exercises at sea.

• The sea phase of the exercise

• It would facilitate ships from both the navies to participate in intensive surface warfare drills, weapon firing drills, seamanship evolutions and coordinated air operations in a tactical scenario.

• About Bongosagar bilateral exercise

• Its first edition was held in 2019.

• Its aim is to develop interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations.

2. The fourth edition of the Jointly Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between the navies of India and Bangladesh

Tags: International Relations International News

The fourth edition of the Jointly Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between the navies of India and Bangladesh was conducted in the North Bay of Bengal from 22-23 May.

• The previous CORPAT between the two countries was held in October 2020.

• In this exercise, indigenous warships INS Kora and INS Sumedha of the Indian Navy along with Bangladesh Navy warships BNS Ali Haider and BNS Abu Ubaidah and maritime patrol aircraft of both the navies participated in joint patrolling.

• Maritime patrol aircraft of both the navies also carried out joint patrols along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) during the CORPAT.

• About Bangladesh 

• Capital- Dhaka

• President- Abdul Hameed

• Prime Minister- Sheikh Hasina

• Currency - taka

• Bangladesh observes 26 March as its Independence Day every year.

3. India and US sign Investment Incentive Agreement in Tokyo

Tags: International Relations International News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden on May 24 signed an Investment Incentive Agreement in Tokyo.

• It is expected that the signing of this agreement will increase the investment support provided by the Development Finance Corporation in India which will help in the development of the country.

• Various proposals worth $4 billion are being considered by the corporation to provide investment support in India.

• The corporation has provided investment support in areas such as COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing, health care financing, renewable energy, financial inclusion and infrastructure.

• The corporation or its predecessor agencies have been active in India since 1974 and have provided investment assistance of $5.8 billion to till date.

• This incentive agreement will replace the earlier agreement signed between India and the US in 1997.

4. India joins Biden’s new trade initiative for Indo-Pacific

Tags: International Relations International News

US President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) along with 12 initial partners in Tokyo on May 23.

• The initial partner countries are India, Australia, Japan, Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

• These 13 countries together represent 40% of the world's GDP.

• About IPEF initiative

• It is expected to focus on four main pillars including trade, supply chain resilience, clean energy and decarbonisation, and taxes and anti-corruption measures.

• The group includes seven of the 10 members of the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and all four Quad countries and New Zealand.

• India will work closely with other IPEF countries to build an inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

• The main roles of the IPEF in the Indo-Pacific will be to set and adhere to standards for the digital economy and cross-border data flows and data localization.

• About  Indo-Pacific

• It covers half of the world's population and more than 60 percent of the global GDP.

• It is a geopolitical region that spans two regions of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

• Extending from the west coast of the United States of America to the west coast of India, the Indo-Pacific is a regional structure of 24 countries.

• It includes the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific Ocean.

5. Indian Embassy in Ukraine to resume its operation in Kyiv from May 17

Tags: International Relations

India announced on 13 May that its embassy in Ukraine would resume its operations from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from 17 May.

• The embassy was temporarily operating from Warsaw in Poland since mid-March.

• Several Western countries have also decided to resume the operation of the embassy from Kyiv.

• India had decided to temporarily relocate the embassy to Poland in view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.

• The Russian military was on offensive around Kyiv.

• India has moved the embassy after repatriating over 20,000 of its Indian nationals from across Ukraine as part of its mission 'Operation Ganga' launched on February 26 in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

• About embassy

• An embassy is the base for a country’s diplomatic mission abroad – meaning all of the political, cultural and social relationships between the states.

• There is only one embassy for one country in another, this is where the country's ambassador works.

• One of the roles of embassies and consulates is to provide assistance to their national citizens abroad.

• A consulate is where consular services are performed.

• Embassies generally have a consular section.

6. Ministry of Skill Development signs MoU with ISRO to start Training Program

Tags: International Relations

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch its training program aimed at augmenting the technical workforce in the Department of Space, ISRO.

• The MoU was signed by Shri Rajesh Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Shri S Somnath, Chairman, ISRO.

• The objective of this initiative is to establish a formal framework for short-term courses to provide training for skill development and capacity building of ISRO technical professionals in the space sector in the country as per the requirements of the industry.

• The training will take place at MSDE's National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) across India.

• About Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) -

• Established - 15 August 1969

• Headquarters- Bangalore, Karnataka

• Motto- Space Technology in the Service of Mankind

• Director- S Somnath

7. India, Oman to hold meeting to boost economic ties

Tags: International Relations

The commerce and industry ministers of India and Oman will meet on May 11 to discuss ways to further boost economic ties between the two countries.

• The 48-member delegation will include senior officials and business representatives from health, pharmaceuticals, mining, tourism, energy, shipping, telecommunications and real estate.

• During the visit, senior officials from both sides will participate in the 10th session of the India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) to be held on May 11.

• The meeting will be co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Omani counterpart.

• The India-Oman Joint Business Council (JBC) meeting will be organised jointly by FICCI and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 12.

• Bilateral trade between India and Oman

• Bilateral trade between the two countries has grown by 82 percent to $9.94 billion in 2021-22.

• Major items of Indian exports to Oman - mineral fuels, textiles, machinery, electrical items, chemicals, iron and steel, tea, coffee, spices, rice, meat products and seafood.

• Major import items from Oman to India - urea, LNG, polypropylene, lubricating oil, dates and chromite ore.

• Various Indian financial institutions and PSUs have a presence in Oman.

• Military exercises 

• Army exercise between both countries : Al Najah

• Air Force exercise between both countries : Eastern Bridge

• Naval Exercise between both countries : Naseem Al Bahr

• About Oman

• It is a country in Western Asia.

• It is located on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and extends to the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

• Oman shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

• It shares maritime borders with Iran and Pakistan.

• Capital - Muscat

• currency - omani rial 

• president - Haitham bin Tariq Al Said

8. France pulls out from India's P-75I Project

Tags: National International Relations Defence

Ahead of Modi's scheduled visit to France, French defence major Naval Group has announced that it is unable to participate in the P-75 India (P-75I) project, which seeks to build six conventional submarines in India for the Indian Navy.

Why did France pull out?

• The French firm pulled out of the project as it could not fulfil the conditions of the Request for Proposal (RFI) placed by the Indian Navy.

• Request for Proposal (RFP) requires that the fuel cell be AIP Sea Proven, which is difficult for India as the French Navy does not use such a propulsion system.

• AIP refers to Air-Independent Propulsion.

• AIP technology allows a conventional submarine to remain submerged for much longer than ordinary diesel-electric submarines.

• India wants AIP technology as none of its existing ships have it while Pakistan and China both have AIP-equipped submarines.

• What is Project 75?

• In June 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved a plan for the Indian Navy to indigenously build submarines by 2030. 

• Under the first phase of the P-75 in 2005, India and France signed a $3.75 billion contract to build six Scorpene-class submarines.

• The executing company on the Indian side was Mazagon Docks Limited, and on the French side was DCNS, now called Naval Group.

• The first submarine under the project was commissioned in December 2017.

• Thereafter, another five were built and on 20 April, INS Vagsheer was launched which will be commissioned by 2023.

• What is P-75I?

• The Project 75I-class submarine is a follow-up to the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarine for the Indian Navy.

• In the late 1990s, at the time of the Kargil War, a three-decade plan for indigenous construction of submarines took shape.

• This is known as Project 75 and Project 75I, two separate series of submarine building lines in collaboration with foreign entities.

• Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six diesel-electric submarines, which will also include advanced air-independent propulsion systems.

9. India and Germany ink agreement for cooperation in agro-ecology

Tags: International Relations Latest

India and Germany agreed to sign a Joint Declaration on Agro-Ecology and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Agriculture Sector.

• A declaration in this regard was signed by India's Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Germany's Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Svenja Schulz in a virtual meeting.

• Through this MoU, both the countries have agreed to promote joint research, knowledge sharing and innovation between academic institutions and agricultural people including farmers.

• Under this agreement, Germany will provide coordinated support to India for this initiative by supporting the agro-ecosystem transformation process through the Technical Cooperation Project.

• Under this initiative, Germany's Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development intends to provide 300 million euros by the year 2025 to provide financial and technical support to the projects.

• About Germany 

• Germany is a country located in the continent of Europe.

• Capital - Berlin

• President- Frank Walter Steinmeier

• Currency - euro

• Chancellor- Olaf Schultz

10. India, Germany signs joint declaration of Intent on Forest Landscape Restoration

Tags: National International Relations

India and Germany have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Forest Landscape Restoration.

• The joint declaration was signed between Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav and Germany's Minister of Environment and Nature Conservation Steffi Lemke.

• The Joint Declaration will provide a platform to further enhance partnership and support in areas such as climate protection and conservation of biodiversity.

• This will also help in strengthening Indo-German cooperation.

• The joint declaration will enable the two countries to successfully partner with each other and expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of forest landscape restoration, environment and climate change.

• About Forest Landscape Restoration

• It is an ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being in deforestation or degraded forest landscapes.

• It is much more than just planting trees – it is restoring entire landscapes to meet current and future needs and for many benefits and land uses over time.

• This manifests through various processes such as: new plantations, managed natural regeneration, agroforestry, or better land management to accommodate the land use mosaic, including agriculture, protected wildlife reserves, managed plantations, riverside plantings, etc.

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